Cole Miller Celebrating the Victory. Timothy Charvat, 2024
Tensions were running high in Booneville, New York. After beating out the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs 8-3 on Saturday, the Utica Blue Sox next target were the winless Booneville
Lumberjacks. And the Blue Sox took care of business in a 13-5 victory that featured confrontations and ejections.
Lumberjacks Strike First
The game started off slow as both Utica’s Tom Roefaro and Booneville’s Bruno Cergol pitch solidly though the first three innings. Each pitcher needed only nine pitches to breeze through the first inning.
The first run of the game came in the bottom of the second, where with one out Roefaro walked Lumberjacks extra hitter Allen Hernandez. The next batter, second baseman Royce Fraizer, grounded the ball to Blue Sox shortstop Johnny Brucato, which was thrown low to first baseman Matthew Williams, which allowed Henandez to score all the way from first.
The Lumberjacks would add to their lead in the bottom of the third inning. With two on and two out, designated hitter Joseph DiMasse would reach on an infield hit, which allowed leftfielder Wei-Chan Wang to score on a hustle play to second base to lead 2-0.
Blue Sox Bats Explode
It wasn’t until the top of the fourth that the Blue Sox bats came to life, as after Williams started the rally with a walk, second baseman Nick OConnor would connect for a two-run home run off Cergol to tie the game at two.
Three batters later, the bases were loaded and nobody out, Cergol threw a wild pitch to designated hitter Todd Abraham, which allowed centerfielder Mike Benedetto to score, giving the Sox the lead. After a strike out of third baseman Omar Carreras, Cergol threw another wild pitch to Brucato which increased the lead to 4-2.
This led to Brucato walking, which forced Lumberjacks manager Brian Fajardo to make a pitching change to Oliver Quinn. After Quinn got extra hitter Gabe Cavazzoni to strike out swinging, he would hit two straight Blue Sox with the bases loaded to cap off a six-run inning, and twelve batters coming to plate. The second of which hit Williams in the helmet. He would later be removed from the game for Trace Hartman.
Lumberjacks Fight Back
The Lumberjacks would respond in the bottom half of the inning, as after Nick Hios replaced Roefaro, catcher Jose Valdez would lead off the inning with a double that was just out of reach of Benedetto. This would be followed by two RBI doubles by Hernandez and right fielder Jax Miller to bring the deficit down 6-4.
The Blue Sox would end the inning on a head up play by Carreras on a ground ball by Nathan Vazquez to tag out Miller before throwing to first on the Blue Sox first double play of the season.
Momentum Killer
After two quick outs in the top of the sixth, right fielder Jayden Ohmer would walk and later steal second base. This would set up Hartman to connect for this second two run homer of the season to increase the Blue Sox lead 8-4. Two batters later, Benedetto would connect for an RBI single, which ended the night for Quinn.
Trace Hartman Rounding The Bases. Timothy Charvat, 2024
Cade McWilliams would come in for the Lumberjacks and would immediately give up another RBI single to catcher Brendan Buecker. This would cap off a four-run inning to increase the Blue Sox lead 10-4.
The Acevado Show
The Lumberjacks would get one more scoring opportunity in the bottom of the eighth inning, as centerfielder Ethan Acevado would single off Blue Sox pitcher Charlie Collins. Two batters later, Acevado would steal second on a pickoff attempt, and third base two pitched afterward.
He would later score on a groundout by DiMasse to Buecker to cut the lead to 10-5.
Boiling Tension
After the hit by pitch to Williams, the teams began to verbally spar with one another, and it would come to a head in the ninth inning. After McWilliams got Benedetto to ground out, they began to trade barbs with each other, which got the Lumberjacks Manager Fajardo to try and talk with the umpires over the jabs. He would be thrown out of the game after the umpires refused to talk to the Blue Sox.
Umpire Throwing Brian Fajardo Out of The Game. Timothy Charvat, 2024
Three batters later, the Blue Sox had two runners on and two outs, which set up Carreras to drive in an RBI single to increase the Blue Sox lead. Brucato would follow with a two-run single to put the game out of reach 13-5.
This would set up Blue Sox manager Doug Delett to bring in Cole More to close out the game by striking out the side.
Notable Performances/Stats
Lumberjacks shortstop Carter Storti would make a play of the year highlight in the second inning, robbing OConner of a hit.
Cater Storti Diving Play. Timothy Charvat, 2024
Blue Sox hitters have five two run homers of the season, the most through three games since joining the PGCBL in 2012.
This is the first game of the season where the Blue Sox scored ten or more runs. The team had eleven such games last season.
What’s Next
The Blue Sox return to Donovan Stadium Tuesday, June 4 in an exhibition matchup with the All-Star Academy. The first pitch is at 6:45.
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